In A Manner Of Speaking
by CalaisForever
Summary: Diego/OC What if another sabre joined our favourite crew of miscreants? See what ensues. Rated for mild language. Story better than summary . . . I hope :p
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: K, so this story is already fully typed, so hopefully I will be able to update relatively fast. I know it's not me usual thing, but still! Please Enjoy! **

**In A Manner of Speaking**

**Prologue: Exile**

I ran. I was exhausted and insanely hungry, but I ran because I had no other option. I could hear the footfalls of my pack behind and that's what drove me to keep running. It felt like I had been running for hours, when in reality I had probably been running for only—nope, it's been hours. I'm not normally one to run from a fight, but I couldn't take on all 8 of them, even if I was better. Call me conceited, but I had trained hard to fulfill my father's expectations, and am officially the best tracker, fighter, and hunter in our pack. Or I was. Until I got exiled. You start one little fight with another pack and all of a sudden the world's after you. The guy was asking for it too. Sheesh. . . ok, maybe it wasn't that simple, but that's basically what happened!

_Flashback_

I was taking my time walking back from my hunt when another sabre came from out of nowhere and jumped in front of me and did the unspeakable. He tried to TAKE. MY. KILL. It is an unspoken rule between all sabres that whoever killed the animal gets first dibs on meat and no one, I repeat, NO ONE, gets anything until the killer is done. I hadn't even started eating my kill and he was trying to take it from me. Ass.

Anyways, I did the thing I'm well known for. I fought him. See I have a bit of a temper and everyone in our pack knows not to piss me off. My father, and leader of our pack, happened to be out in the woods and heard our fight. He raced to see what was happening. Of course, he came across me about to rip this guy's throat out. Seeing my father, I froze. My father knew I had a temper and that I was very capable of killing the unlucky sabre right at that moment, even as he wriggled beneath me. Of course, as my father came up so did the leader of this sabers pack. As soon as I saw him, I immediately got off and walked over my father, standing behind his right shoulder as his second-in-command. The other sabre got up and walked over to his leader, standing behind his left shoulder. _Ha-ha, THIRD-in-command, not second. Sucker. _I heard the rest of my pack some up and take on an arrowhead formation. The other pack did too.

"Soto," my father nodded in respect.

"Raze," Soto nodded back. He looked between the other saber and me. "What seems to be the problem here?"

My father looked to me to explain. I stepped forward. "Your third-in-command over there was trying to take my kill," I explained, trying to keep the growl out of the sentence. It only worked slightly.

"Oscar?" Raze questioned. **Oscar**, looked at Raze. He knew that if he admitted to it he would be hunted. I sat back on my haunches and smirked, knowing that there was no way out of this. Apparently I was wrong.

"We shared the hunt, but she refused to share the kill," Oscar said._ What!_

I heard Soto's second-in-command mutter "Why do I not believe that?"

_End Of Flashback_

So now, as you can imagine, I was running from my pack as I had apparently 'disgraced and dishonoured the entire pack and my father'. Whatever. That wasn't what happened even though everyone except Soto's second agreed on it (although, Soto's pack didn't hold it against me, as most of them appeared to think that Oscar probably did it). Even my own pack, minus my father, had been waiting for a chance to get me out. I was the only female and they despised the fact that I was second-in-command. So, my whole world got turned upside down by that stupid idiot, Oscar . . . and I didn't even get to keep my meat.

If I ever saw that Oscar character again, he's going to wish he had told the truth and that his pack had taken him down by the time I was through with him.

I finally hit a clearing and took the time to actually think about what direction I was running in. I turned left and headed north. My pack generally stuck to their own territory, and considering I knew that my father was hesitant to kill me, I had to trust that he wouldn't leave his territory. The northern border wasn't far from here, but the eastern border (which I had been running towards before) was at least another 2 hours run. After I crossed the northern border I slowed to a speedy trot, waiting to hear whether the pounding of paws would stop or not. It did, thank goodness.

I found a nice little cave to sleep in for the night. And as I closed my eyes, I couldn't help but wonder where I would go next.

For the next few days I wandered aimlessly through the forest, hunting, trying to see if I could find a temporary place to call home, until I happened upon the strangest sight I had ever seen. A mammoth, a sloth, a HUMAN baby, and . . . Soto's second?

**A/N: Hope you like, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: 1****st**** official chapter! Enjoy my friends! Brownie Points to . . . . **_**CarminaxBuranax!**_

_**AnthonyAngrywolf: **_**Then don't read it.**

_**Tigey Wigey: **_**Thank you so much! You made my day aha **

_**CarminaxBuranax: **_**Thanks! That means a lot **

_**StillOnTheEdge**_**: Thanks! And yeah I realized that too :$ This is a story I wrote a while ago so I know what you mean, but I just didn't have the time to change it around. Sorry about that!**

**Chapter 1: Meet and Greet**

The three of them were walking, the sloth talking non-stop, and I'm not quite sure how they didn't snap his neck right there. The mammoth looked slightly peeved, but said nothing, and the saber looked like he was could've killed the sloth, but was holding back. I decided they were harmless enough, so I stepped out of the rock I was crouched behind.

Their reactions were automatic. The sloth hid behind the mammoth, the mammoth pulled the baby to him protectively, and the sabre stepped forward in a defensive crouch, a low growl coming from his throat. I just stood there, slightly amused, holding back an answering growl.

"Relax," I said, "I'm not here to hurt any of you." The sabre stood up as recognition passed over his face.

"You're that sabre that fought Oscar." I let out an involuntary growl at that and felt my eyes narrow.

"That God damn twerp got me exiled. When he was trying to take MY kill. Idiot," I growled out. He just chuckled in response.

"Sounds like Oscar. From the scars on his shoulder you put up a good fight," he said.

"Good fight? I was about to kill him for even thinking of touching my kill when my father walked in. I won that fight, fair and square, but nobody believed that either," I huffed. "So what's with the weird company? Not exactly the pack I last saw you in . . . ?" I trailed off, not knowing his name.

"Diego," he supplied, "and yeah, dynamics changed a bit. . . ?"

"Dakota," I replied, giving my name. He nodded. "So what exactly is it you guys are doing with a human?" I took a step forward to see it.

"Well," the sloth lisped, "we're taking it back to its herd. We're on our way to Glacier Pass to head them off. By the way, I'm Sid." He stuck out his hand to shake, but I just looked at it before he dropped it. I looked at Diego. I had heard of the fight between Soto's pack and the humans. And of how he wanted revenge on the human's child.

"And you are?" I asked the mammoth.

"Manny," he replied grudgingly.

"Cool, so mind if I join your little misfit crew, because I really don't have anything better to do?" Manny looked sceptical at my suggestion, but once he saw that Diego saw me as no threat and Sid was jumping up and down excitedly, he reluctantly agreed.

We began walking and Sid took no time to tell me the story of how they all met and his daring stunt with dodo birds. From Diego's expression I had no trouble believing that he had exaggerated. . . A LOT. And I still didn't find it that impressive.

I quickly learned the group dynamics and learned where I fell; under Diego and Manny, but above Sid and Pinky. Frankly, the baby was quite entertaining.

As we were waking, Diego and I dropped back, both wanting to make sure we weren't being followed. Even without a pack, pack instinct still takes over. "So how did Soto's second end up travelling with a mammoth and a sloth? I mean, why didn't you just take the kid and go? Why come all this way?" I had to ask.

He didn't look at all surprised that I knew why he was here. "Because, our dear Manfred up there," he replied sarcastically, "wouldn't let the kid out of his sight, and there's no way I can go back to Soto without it. What about you? Why are you all the way out here? I figured you'd be looking for another pack."

"Nah, kind of tired of taking orders from my father anyway. I probably would've left sooner or later, but I figured it would be walking out calmly instead of being hunted," I shrugged.

"Fair enough," he said. After a short silence I looked over to see what he was thinking, and was startled when I was the gorgeous bright green eyes looking back at me. I quickly looked away and we continued in comfortable silence until Manny decided to settle down for the night.

Diego lied down and fell asleep easily as Manny curled up to some rock with Pinky wrapped in his trunk. I lay down between the two and rested my head on my paws. Sid walked up to us and I sarcastically called, "Ah, the triumphant return."

Sid looked at me. "Huh? Oh, that," he chuckled. "Was so full." He turned to Pinky. "How 'bout a good night kiss for your big buddy Sid?"

"Shh!" Manny hissed. "He's asleep."

"I was talking to you," Sid said grumpily, as he turned his back. I tried really hard not to laugh at that. "Fine, I'll tuck myself in." He dusted off a rock and climbed on. "Good night," he let out in a big yawn. Then proceeded to reposition himself about a million times making a small noise each time.

"Sid," I whispered through clenched teeth as I tried really hard not to snap at him. Manny was starting to look annoyed too. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. "Will you stop it!"

"Alright, alright," he said. "I was just trying to relax." Sid curled up and started sucking his thumb. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Then I closed my eyes and slept.

**A/N: I know that one was short! Hope you liked, will try and update soon . . . I will update faster the more reviews I get ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Merry Xmas Eve everybody! Or if you don't celebrate xmas, Happy Holidays! Anyway, brownie points to . . . _Custom stories and co, mayalewis16, Kailynn Yukari_and _Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967_!**

**_Buckrocks: _thanks so much! :)**

**_Custom stories and co_: haha thanks :) happy to hear it!**

**_Tigey Wigey: _thank you! :)**

**_CarminaxBuranax: _thanks! I really appreciate the feedback :)**

**_mayalewis16_: I hope it is :) and i'm going to try and update as fast as possible! :)**

**_Kailynn Yukari: _thanks :) glad to hear it :)**

**_ghostukine: _here you go :)**

**_Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967_: haha enjoy :)  
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**Chapter 2: Revelations**

I woke up the next morning to the angry footfalls of Manny. Diego and I both jumped up immediately. "Where's the baby?" Manny glared suspiciously at us.

"You lost it!" Diego nearly growled back.

"How do you lose a freaking baby?" I yelled. We all looked at each other and came to the same realization. "Sid!"

Diego, Manny, and I went off in different directions, looking for Sid and Pinky. Actually, I just wanted to get a break from the three of them. Don't get me wrong, I had no problem travelling with them, but still, the only girl in a group of three guys? I think I deserve a little break. I was just walking along when Sid came barrelling around a corner.

"Oh thank goodness! Thank goodness!" he whispered when he saw me. "Oh no! A tiger! Help! Help!" he called back dramatically.

"Where's the baby?" I hissed.

"Oh, he's fine, Manfred has him," came Sid's whispered response. "Just put me in your mouth, hurry." He made a strangled noise and yelled, "Oh she got me, oh, help!"

"Get away from me," I said and turned to walk away. Until he kicked me. I growled and grabbed him by the neck. As the rhino's came in sight, Sid played dead.

"Oh, Carl, the tiger beat us to him!" one of them said.

"Wait a minute," the other said, walking forward to smell Sid. "Ugh! He's dead alright."

"Oh, carnivores have all the fun," his friend whined.

As they walked away, Sid sighed. "Oh gosh, I hate breaking their hearts like that. You know how it is." He tried to walk away, but I didn't budge since his head didn't fit through my clenched teeth. "Alright, you can let go now." I didn't move and merely looked at him. He panicked. "Manny! M-Manny!" he yelled as he struggled. Manny and Diego came walking towards us.

"Really, guys, I thought we were in a hurry!" he complained. "Dakota, spit that out."

"Yeah," Diego shuddered, "you don't know where it's been." I promptly dropped Sid.

"Boy," Sid said as he got up, "for a second there I actually thought you were going to eat me."

"Nah," I replied, walking away, "I don't eat junk food."

Sid laughed as he followed. "I thought you were going to- I thought you were- were you?" I just raised an eyebrow at him.

As we trekked through the snow, Sid fell behind several times. "Guys wait up!" was heard repeatedly. As we walked I spotted a geyser and chuckled darkly. Diego and Manny both looked at me and I nodded up at it. Diego's face lifted in an evil smirk that I knew matched mine. Manny just shook his head but let us have our fun. When Sid caught up to us, he reclined on the geyser as we all knew he would. "Thanks for waiting."

"3," Manny said.

" . . . 2," Diego.

". . . 1," me.

BOOM! Sid was sent flying into the air.

"Sure is faithful," Manny said as we walked away, not even waiting for Sid to hit solid ground again.

While we were walking, Sid and Pinky got into a poke war and Manny warned, "Don't make me reach back there."

"He started it," Sid said back.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it," I growled. It shut them up nicely.

Sid threw a snowball at Manny, and promptly accused Pinky. I rolled my eyes.

"Modern architecture," Manny said as we passed the stones.

"It'll never last," I said. He nodded in agreement.

As we walked, there was a human footprint in the snow. Diego showed us where they were heading using his oh-so-amazing tracking skills, but I knew that the humans didn't walk barefoot like we did and I started to get suspicious, wondering exactly what he was up to.

We had to cross a frozen lake. Sid skated around no problem; Manny fell down a few times; Diego and I had trouble moving forward, but managed to stay on four paws. . . well, except for one time. The two of us were inching forward, dangerously close to one another when Sid skated in a circle around us calling, "Hey Diego! Hey Dakota!" As he skated around, he pushed me into Diego even further and both of us lost our balance, me falling on top of him. I was thoroughly embarrassed as I looked at those emerald eyes that were absolutely to die for. Diego, on the other hand, just looked at me and said, "You're not as heavy as I thought you'd be."

"Are you calling me fat?" I asked with a smirk to let him know I was joking, my embarrassment gone now.

"No," he replied, smirking back. "You're too gorgeous to be fat." He looked almost like he was surprised that slipped out, but completely meant it. My embarrassment was back and I quickly got up and slowly made my way over to the bank. But I couldn't ignore the little flutter in the pit of my stomach when he said that.

As Diego, Manny, and I made our way off the bank, we passed a glacier with the backend of a familiar sloth sticking out of it and the three of us chorused, "Hey Sid!"

We got to a crossroad and Manny turned to Diego, "You're lost aren't you?"

"No," Diego replied stubbornly. "I know exactly where we are."

I sighed and pointed to a squirrel. "Ask him directions."

"I don't need directions," Diego said.

"What is it with men and asking directions?" I muttered under my breath. Then I turned to the squirrel, "Hey buddy, you see any humans go by here?" The squirrel shook his head then paused to think for a second.

"Ooo! I love this game, I love this game!" Sid said as the squirrel started to act out something. "Ok, ok. Three words. First word. Uh, stomp? Stamp?"

"Let me try," Manny said joining in. "Uh, pack!"

"Good one, Manny," Sid said as the squirrel nodded. "Pack of . . . long teeth? And claws." I froze and looked suspiciously at Diego. He avoided my gaze. Not good. "Pack of wolves? Pack of . . . ?"

"Pack of bears? Pack of fleas?" _Fleas, Manny? Really!_

"Pack of whiskers? Pack of noses?"

"Pachyderm?"

"Pack of lies? Pack of troubles? Pack-a-wallop? Pack of birds? Pack of flying fish?" The last two guesses from Sid were due to the fact that the squirrel went flying through the air over the glaciers. Courtesy of Diego flicking him. I sent Diego a very clear _we-are-so-talking-later_ look.

We kept walking then, Diego convinced we weren't lost. Sid threw another snowball at Manny, but Pinky had caught on to his scheme and pointed at Sid before Sid could point at him. Manny promptly threw a huge ball of snow on top of Sid.

Diego was walking ahead of us when all of a sudden he came galloping back to us oddly excited. "Great news! I found a short-cut!"

"What do you mean 'short-cut'?" Manny asked suspiciously.

"I mean, faster than the long way around," was Diego's snarky reply.

"I know what a short-cut is!"

"Look," Diego explained. "Either we sneak through there," he nodded to a crevice in the cliff, "and beat the humans to Glacier Pass, or we take the long way and miss 'em."

"Through there?" Manny questioned incredulously. "What do you take me for?"

"This time tomorrow, you could be a free mammoth," Deigo said, quite convincingly. "Or a nanny. Personally, I never get tired of peek-a-boo."

Sid ran up, "Hey guys, hey guys, check this out!" He held half an icicle up to either side of his neck to make it look like it had gone through, then proceeded to stick his tongue out and make gurgling noises as if he was dying. That made up Manny's mind.

"Sid, the tiger found a short-cut," Manny interrupted.

Sid looked at the cliff, and then dropped the icicles. "No thanks, I choose life."

"Then I suggest you take the short-cut," Diego all but growled at him.

"Are you threatening me?" was Sid's genius response.

"MOVE, SLOTH!" Diego yelled. It echoed. And echoed. And then there was an avalanche. Oh, joy.

Sid patted Diego's head. "Way to go, tiger."

And we all ran into the short-cut. The entrance filled with snow behind us. "Ok, I vote short-cut," I said. We all started through the passage.

"Come on, guys. Stick together. It's easy to get lost in here," Diego cautioned.

Sid dropped back for a moment, looking at something in the ice. "Will you keep up please?" Manny asked, rather abruptly. "It's hard enough to keep track of one baby." Said baby then came sliding passed all of us on an ice slide, before disappearing over the side. The boys all screamed when they lost sight of the baby, but I was already on the slide chasing after him.

All of a sudden, I felt Manny plough into my back. Man, those tusks hurt like hell! Sid promptly landed on the two of us as Diego fell from the sky and landed on Manny's back. We all slid down screaming. Sid took Manny's trunk and spoke into it. "Captain, iceberg ahead!" We slid safely up the 'iceberg' and as we were near the top it started to crack. Suddenly, we were on a toboggan.

"Oh, no," was Diego's only comment before we were sliding after the kid again. We all jumped off the toboggan onto the slide which seemed to have lanes built for each of us. I immediately crouched down and felt myself speed up. I quickly saw Diego and Manny follow my lead. Sid nearly had the kid, but it was promptly launched into the air by a jump. Sid then slid into the snow, Diego following close behind, then I hit Diego. Manny slowed down enough to grab the kid in his trunk and THEN slam into us.

"Woo hoo!" Diego yelled as he burst out of the snow.

"Yeah! Who's up for round two?" I laughed. That was awesome! I then calmed down at Manny's look. "T-tell the kid to be more careful."

Manny gave Pinky to Sid then, as we started walking through a cave covered in drawings. "Look, tigers! Yeesh," Sid said to Pinky. The baby started to whine. "No, no, look, it's okay. The tigers are just playing tag with the antelope . . . with their teeth."

Diego and I both got those evil smirks on our faces again as we walked up to Sid. "C'mon Sid," I said, walking around him in a circle, Diego doing the same as he added, "Let's play tag." "You're it," I finished.

Sid let out a half-hearted chuckle before running away. I looked over to give my partner in crime a congratulatory grin to find those gorgeous eyes staring back at me and I was struck at how damn amazing he was. I was startlingly reminded of that moment at the lake and I had a burst of courage as I licked his cheek before turning and walking away. I didn't miss his look of surprise though.

"Ok, ok, ok, where are the sloths?" came Sid's voice. I rolled my eyes. "You know, you never see any sloths in these things, you noticed? Oh look, Manny, a mammoth!"

"Ooo, somebody pinch me," Manny said sarcastically, not even turning to look.

"This fat one looks just like you!" Sid exclaimed. Diego and I came to join him and I was startled at exactly how much this mammoth looked like Manny. "Aww, he's got a family!" Manny paused at that. "Oh, and he's happy! Look, he's playing with his kid!" Manny had come over to join us now, and I was keeping a close eye on him. "That's your problem, that's what mammoths are supposed to do!"

"Sid," I warned through my teeth, never taking my eyes off Manny as he looked at the picture.

Clearly not hearing, Sid kept going. "Find a she-moth, have little baby mammoths and-and"

"Sid," Diego cut him off, a little louder.

"What?"

"Shut up."

As Manny was lost in his memories, I moved a little closer to him from where I was sitting beside him and leaned my head against his leg, just so he knew I was there. He touched the picture on the wall of the kid, trailing his trunk along it until it hit Pinky's hand. Manny seemed a little surprised that it was there, but he picked Pinky up and hugged him before putting Pinky up on his back again. He looked down at me and gave me the slightest upward twitch of his mouth to say thanks and I gave him a small smile back. Then he started walking again. Sid ran up to follow him, but Diego hesitated. Before he could turn to walk though, I was there.

"Diego, what are you really doing? Why did your pack travel this way?" I asked, not really sure whether I wanted to know the answer.

He didn't look like he wanted to give me the answer either. "I was only supposed to get the kid and give it to Soto at Half Peak."

"But?" I urged, not really wanting to know the rest.

"But it turned into something a bit more than that. That was before I got to know Manny though," he rushed on before I could interrupt, "and I'm not sure how I'm going to fix it yet, but nobody's going to get hurt." He paused, waiting for my response.

I still wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do, but I could tell he wanted to fix it really badly, so I figured I'd let him fix it and find out later. So I just nodded and turned to go. Before I could though, Diego did the thing that surprised me the most. He licked my cheek. I looked at him absolutely shocked. Of course there was the signature smirk on his face. "Thanks for understanding." Then he was gone. I stayed for a second, looking at the picture of the happy family and wondering—never mind. I shook my head getting rid of those thoughts. Then I caught up to the rest of the herd.

"Well, well, would you look at that," Manny said. "The tiger actually did it. There's half peak. Next stop, Glacier Pass. How could I ever have doubted you."

"You hear that, little fella," Sid said to Pinky, "you're almost home. . . My feet are sweating."

"Do we have to get a news flash every time your body does something?" I snarled.

"It's only for attention. Just ignore him," Manny advised.

"If it were that easy to ignore Sid, we would've been home free a long time ago," Diego said.

"Seriously! My feet are really hot!" Then we heard a very thunder-like sound.

I turned to Manny, "Tell me that was your stomach."

"Shh," Diego said.

"I'm sure that it was just thunder from . . . underground?" Sid's statement came out as more of a question.

And then lava exploded behind us. And we ran. And then the ice melted all around us leaving only a thin ice-bridge. Of course, the piece in front of Diego and I broke off. "Jump!" I yelled as I shot across.

Sid looked back as Diego jumped across. "Wow, I wish I could jump like that."

"Wish granted!" Manny yelled as he kicked Sid. And Sid went FAR.

"Come on, move faster," I said to Manny.

"Have you noticed the river of lava?" he replied. The ice started to melt in front of us and Manny jumped just as it broke off. As he jumped I latched onto him making it safely across.

Diego, however wasn't so lucky. I looked back as he tried to jump it and found him hanging off the ledge. "Diego!" I yelled desperately.

As I tried to make my way back to him Manny got in my way, shoving Pinky at me. "Hold this!" I took it in my mouth (softly), and watched as Manny tried to get to Diego without breaking the ice. As the ice broke underneath Diego, Manny grabbed him and I let out a breath of relief. And then the ice started to break underneath Manny's feet. Manny threw Diego safely to us, but couldn't get back to us in time. The ice broke, taking Manny with it.

"Manny!" all of us cried out. Of course we forgot about the huge geyser down there that blasted Manny up on the piece of ice. He landed with a huge trumpet sound, followed by a massive BOOM! Sid rushed to his side as I stayed by Diego. "Manny, are you ok? C'mon say something! Anything!"

"Mr mdning mn mm trmp." _What?_

"I can't hear you," Sid said, leaning closer.

"You're standing on my trunk," came Manny's nasally voice. Sid lifted his foot and it was immediately followed by a huge gasping sound.

"You're ok! You're ok!" Sid yelled excitedly.

"Why'd you do that?" Diego asked, clearly confused. He hadn't moved from where Manny had thrown him. "You could've died trying to save me." I was wondering too, but I assumed it was just a Manny thing. In a pack, if you couldn't save yourself you were done for. You didn't risk yourself for others.

At least that's what I thought, until Manny answered, "That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other."

"Well . . . Thanks."

"I don't know about you guys," I said after putting the kid down, "but we are the weirdest herd I've ever seen." I looked over at Diego only to get caught in his gaze again. That seemed to be happening a lot lately, but I didn't care anymore. When he was hanging off that ledge, it had nearly scared me to death. I thought he was going to die and I couldn't do anything about it. But, what scared me the most was that he would die without me being able to tell him how I really felt. Cause, you see, when he was hanging on that ledge having his life flash before his eyes, I had been having a little epiphany. I loved Diego.

**A/N: Hope it was up to standards! Review . . . ?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey! Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (Or if you don't celebrate Christmas then a happy whatever-holiday-you-did-celebrate :p) Here is the next (and 2****nd**** last) chapter! Enjoy! Brownie points go to . . . **_**kagome13cdj, kali yugah, WolvesKey, YankeeRose908, Leopard The Warrior Of Africa**_**, and**_** xLil' Suga Babyx!**_

_**Crystal-Wolf-Gaurdain-967**_**: Thanks! :)**

_**CarminaxBuranax**_**: Thanks! That means the world to me! :D**

_**Custom stories and co:**_** Haha thanks! :) you too! **

_**Tigey Wigey:**_** haha same! :)**

_**WolvesKey:**_** Thank you very much :)**

_**Leopard The Warrior Of Africa:**_** haha thanks :) and love your name, very interesting :p**

_**xLil' Suga Babyx:**_** Awesome! and Thanks! :)**

**Chapter 3: Trust**

As we walked, it grew very windy and started to snow. Just lovely. Diego and I stuck close together, both for warmth and because neither of us wanted to be too far apart after what just happened. _Did you not always promise yourself you were going to be independent? What happened there? Now you're hanging all over this guy! _**I am not hanging all over him! I just don't want to lose him. And apparently he feels the same after the moment on the lake and in the cave. So hush! **_You're staying beside him because you don't want 'to be too far apart after what just happened'! That is straight out of those sappy romance stories you said you'd never be a part of! _**I'm not hanging all over him! End of discussion! Period, exclamation mark!**

"We've got to get this kid out of the wind!" Manny's voice called, snapping me back to reality. We found a little crevice. "How much farther?"

"Three miles," Diego answered.

"We'll get there in the morning," Manny said, eyeing the storm. The three of us turned around at the sound of scratching.

Sid was doing something on the wall and I finally had to ask, "Sid, what are you doing?"

"I'm putting sloths on the map," he answered. We shared a look. This could be hilarious. He moved aside to let us view his master piece.

"Why don't you make it realistic and draw him lying down?" I critiqued.

"And make him rounder," Diego smirked.

Manny took the rock from Sid's hand and drew a pot belly on the sloth.

"Perfect," Manny said.

"Ha-ha," Sid said sarcastically, "I forgot how to laugh." He snatched the rock back and scribbled furiously at the drawing, creating sparks that flew onto dry twigs that started a fire. We were all amazed that Sid could start a fire. "I'm a genius!" We all gathered whatever sticks we could find and got a good fire going to keep us warm. "From now on you can refer to me as, 'Sid, Lord-of-the-Flame'!"

"Hey, Lord-of-the-Flame," Manny called sarcastically, "you're tails on fire."

After we watched Sid run in circles a couple times, Diego grabbed him and sat him down in the snow. "Oh, thank you!" Sid said. "From now on, I'm going to call you, 'Diego,—"

"Lord-of-Touch-Me-and-You're-Dead," Diego finished. Sid gasped. "Nah, I'm just kidding, you knucklehead." Diego pulled Sid in and gave him a nuggy.

"Hey lovebirds," I called. They both looked over.

"Look at this," Manny said. He let Pinky go and we all watched as he started to walk.

"I don't believe it," Sid whispered. "Come here, come here you little wormy, worm."

"Don't think he's going to answer to 'wormy, worm', Sid," I said.

Pinky paused half way to Sid and his eyes caught Diego. "Come to Uncle Sid." Pinky changed direction. "No, no, no, this way."

Pinky started walking to Diego. I have to say I was quite interested to see what would happen. "No, no, no, go to him," Diego said, gesturing to Manny. "Go to him." Pinky grabbed onto Diego's paw as he fell. "Ok. Good job. Keep practicing," he said as he helped Pinky stand again and push him towards Manny and I.

I had been lying down with my head on my paws when Pinky started walking. Now, Pinky was making his way towards us. Before I knew it, he was walking towards me. "Look at that," Sid said, "our little guy's growing up." Pink yawned as he walked and teetered a bit, but quickly righted himself before continuing towards me and curling up into my side. He curled into a tight ball and started sucking his thumb. I could tell Manny was watching, gauging my reaction, but I hadn't even lifted my head.

"Pushover," I heard Sid mutter. I growled softly.

"Well," Manny said, "I guess that's our cue to go to sleep." I looked at Pinky one last time before closing my eyes for a well-earned rest.

We woke up early the next day and started on our way. The storm had stopped, but it was still snowing. Sid was carrying Pinky. "Let's get you all cleaned up. What's your daddy going to say if you go back all smushy and stinky like this?" Sid licked his paw and wiped Pinky's face. "Just clean that up. That looks good. A little bit here—"

Manny grabbed Sid's paw to make him stop. "You clean up nice, little fella," he said to Pinky.

"I think he's starting to look like me," Sid said. "Hey Diego, Dakota, what do you think?"

"Sure, Sid, he looks just like you," I replied sarcastically.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this," Diego said, ignoring Sid's question completely. I started to wonder exactly what his pack was planning.

"Why not?" Sid asked.

"Because if we save him he'll grow up to be a hunter. And who do you think he'll hunt?"

"Maybe because we save him, he won't hunt us," came Sid's naïve response.

"Yeah, and maybe he'll grow fur and a long, skinny neck and call you 'Momma'," Diego responded quite angrily.

We all paused to look at him. "What's your problem?" Manny questioned.

"Nothing," Diego said tightily.

"Then let's go," I interrupted. "I'm freezing my tail off."

As Manny and Sid walked through a little stone tunnel, I saw Diego drop back and stopped to see what he was looking for. He glanced from side to side looking up at the cliffs. As I looked, I saw a flash of gold disappear and it hit me. I turned on him growling loudly, though still quiet enough so the other two couldn't hear me. "Are you kidding me, Diego? An ambush? You thought you could fix this! You are not seriously leading them into this!"

He shook his head as I spoke. "I don't want to lead them into this! OK, maybe at first—you know how good mammoth meat is—but not once I got to know them! Now, I don't know what to do!"

"Tell them," I told him. "Tell them, or I will."

He looked torn between his friends and his pack. I started walking towards Sid and Manny, but before I could open my mouth, Diego raced up. "Get down!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"He said 'Get down!' you idiots!" I clarified.

"Shut up, get down, and follow me," Diego ordered.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" Sid asked.

I sent Diego a look. He looked at the ground. I was very proud of him when I didn't have to say anything. "At the bottom of Half Peak . . . there's an ambush waiting for you."

"What!"

"What do you mean 'ambush'?" Manny asked suspiciously. His eyes widened as he realized. "You set us up," he accused Diego.

"It was my job," Diego tried to defend himself. "I was supposed to get the baby, but then—"

"You brought us home for dinner!" Manny finished. He turned to me. "And I supposed you knew too?"

"Ah, no. I found out about this about 20 feet back actually."

Sid pointed angrily at Diego. "You're out of the herd!"

"I'm sorry," Diego said dejectedly.

Manny pinned him against the rock with his tusk. "No you're not. Not yet."

"Yes, he is," I interrupted. "Look, we can still get out of this. But we need him to help."

"Yeah, right," Manny said. "Sid stick close to me, we can fight our way out."

"No, you can't," Diego contradicted, still fighting for breath against Manny's tusk. "The pack's too strong."

"You have to trust us," I said.

"Trust you! Why in the world would we trust you!" Manny cried, outraged.

"Because we're your only chance," I stated simply.

**A/N: Dun dun dunnnnn! Review?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry it took so long guys! School started so it was a little hard to find tiem to upload this :$ Brownie points to . . . **_**Lost In The Arts,**_** and**_** newty01.**_

_**Winter Shadow: **_**Glad you liked it :) Sorry about that aha :p**

**Last chapter guys . . . please enjoy it!**

**Chapter 4: Saving The Day**

Diego and I walked up to the pack. "Boys," I greeted them. I got a nice big snarl from Oscar. I just smirked.

"Look who decided to show up," Oscar said, nodding towards Diego. "And he brought trash with him."

"Watch who you're calling trash," I warned. "Last I checked you wouldn't be here if Raze hadn't shown up." That shut him up pretty quickly.

"Diego," Soto greeted. "I was beginning to worry about you. And I see you brought Dakota with you." He nodded to be and I nodded back respectfully. "Her skills will be of excellent use taking down our lovely meal."

"No need to worry," Diego replied smoothly. "In about two minutes you'll be satisfying your taste for revenge."

"Very nice," was Soto's only reply.

"I see the sloth!" Zeke cried anxiously. "And he's got the baby!"

"Don't giveaway your positions until you see the mammoth," Soto cautioned. "He is the one we have to surprise."

I stood beside Soto as everyone else kept look out for Manny. "You do know that was my kill, right?" What can I say, I don't forget stuff like that.

He gave just the smallest of nods. "I stand by my pack."

I nodded, completely understanding. It still felt good to know that even Soto knew Oscar was a meat-taking jerk.

All of a sudden, Zeke took off. Like a flash of lightning. Definitely had to give him credit for speed.

Lenny and Oscar took off after him. "No!" Soto cried in dismay. "I said wait for the mammoth!"

Diego back at him and shrugged. Soto growled and took off after them. Mission accomplished.

I turned to Diego. "I can't even imagine the look on his face when he sees that baby."

Diego started laughing. "That would be something to see!" Then, we made our way back to Manny.

Zeke, Oscar, and Lenny made there way around the cliff face, chasing Sid only to be hit by a tree trunk, thrown by Manny, with a yell of, "Surprise!"

"Ok," Diego said, "follow me. We'll pick up Sid and get out of here while we can."

"Ah, the 'quit-while-you're-ahead' strategy," I said. "Smart."

"Not proud of it," Diego said, "but sometimes it needs to be used."

At least, it would've been used, until we heard a voice. Soto. "Come on, Diego, Dakota, let's bring this mammoth down." Soto started stalking towards Manny. I lost track of what happened after that, though. Before I could jump in and help, I heard the one voice that ruined my day.

"Come on, Dakota," my brother, Mav, said. "Why are you protecting a bunch of idiot vegetarians?" George and Shia came out behind him. I knew those were the only members of the pack that would be with him because my father would still want to protect our territory.

"Get out of here, Mav," I warned. "This isn't your fight."

"Ah, but it is," he growled. My brother and I had always hated each other, so I really wasn't that surprised when he attacked me. Had it just been me and him, I would've killed him no problem, but when Shia and George joined in, I was done for. I left quite a few marks on them though. The fight was kind of a blur. I just acted on instinct and hoped that would get me through. Next thing I knew I was on my side feeling a little dizzy. Diego was near me with a huge gash in his shoulder and Manny and Sid were leaning over us.

"I think she's coming to!" Sid shouted.

I winced. "Sid, bring the volume down, please?"

"Sorry," he whispered. I tried to stand up, but collapsed again with a gasp of pain as I realized my biggest wounds were three deep gashes across my chest, along with several others, from Mav. Some brother.

"We were some team, huh?" Diego forced out.

"Were?" I questioned quietly, finding my voice.

"Come on," Manny said, "we're still a team."

"Sorry I set you up," Diego said.

"You know me," Sid told him, "I'm too lazy to hold a grudge."

Sid set Pinky down and he crawled to Diego, petting his nose. "Hey, knock it off, Squirt," Diego told him. "You've got to be strong. You've got to take care of Manfred and Sid. Especially Sid." Pinky nodded, seeming to understand. I chuckled and he crawled over to me.

"Hey, Kiddo," I said. He curled into my side and I forced myself not to wince. "Diego's right. You'll be just fine. You've got to make it back to your herd. Just don't forget us, got it, kid?" He looked up at me and nodded. "Good." I smiled and nudged him over to Manny and Sid with my nose, though I thought I was going to pass out from pain again.

"Come on," Sid said, "you can lick this. You're a tiger. Look, I'll carry you. Come on, what do you say? Tell 'em they're gonna be ok, Manny."

"Listen, you've got to leave us here," Diego said.

I nodded. "If those humans get through the pass, you'll never catch them."

"You didn't have to do that," he said to us.

"That's what you do in a herd," Diego told him, using his own words. Manny picked up Pinky, and they were gone.

"Sid was right, you know," I told Diego.

He looked shocked. "I never thought I'd hear those words."

"I'm not kidding. You can lick that shoulder wound and it will heal just fine."

"You could lick your wounds, too, and you'd be good to go," Diego retorted.

I shook my head. "The ones on my chest are too deep."

He shifted his head to look at them and winced. "Those look bad."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I replied sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, you can't be that badly hurt if you're using sarcasm."

I laughed, but it turned into a cough. Diego managed to stand and limp over to lie next to me. "What are you doing?" I asked him, confused.

"You could at least make an effort to live, you know," he said, before starting to clean my wounds.

"And you should worry about your own damn wound before cleaning mine," I shot back.

It took awhile, but we both managed to get standing and limped our way to where we knew Manny and Sid would be. It was a looonnnnggggg journey. As we crested the hill, we saw Pinky looking over his father's shoulder at us. He covered his eyes and then put his hands out like claws. Diego nearly laughed as he mimicked the action and waved. Pinky waved by to me and I just smiled, and lifted a paw, just enough to wave. I was still insanely sore.

"Bye!" Sid called, his voice choked with tears.

"Save your breath, Sid," Diego told him.

"You know humans can't talk," I finished.

Sid whirled around. "Diego! Dakota! You're OK!"

"9 lives, sucker!" I replied. He ran over and tackled Diego in a hug.

He then ran over to me, but I quickly shook my head and he settled for gently hugging me (as gently as Sid could) and saying, "I could kiss yah!" and planting kisses all over the top of my head (ew!) before wincing and yelling "Yuck!"

"Welcome back," was all we got from Manny, but it was enough. He turned to me, "Want a lift?"

"No thanks," I replied. "My pride's been hurt enough as it is."

"You're hangin' out with us now, buddy," Sid said. "Pride's got nothing to do with it." He turned to Manny, "But I'll take that lift."

"Yeah, climb aboard," Manny told him.

Sid hopped on and promptly yelled, "Mush!" We all looked at him. "Or not mush. Either way." And we started walking. To the constant chatter of Sid of course. "This is going to be the best migration ever! I'm going to show you all my favourite watering holes. You know, I turn brown when the fungus in my fur dries out."

"Lovely, Sid," I commented.

"Sounds very attractive," Manny said.

"You know, this whole 'Ice Age' things getting old," Sid thought aloud. "You know what I could go for? 'Global Warming'!"

"Sure," I said sarcastically.

"Keep dreaming," Diego told him.

"No, really!" Sid persisted.

It was definitely the most interesting migration I've ever been through.

The End

A/N: That's it! Finito! I will be writing Ice Age 2 at some point, but it will be a while. I promise you the sequel will come, I just can't promise when. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and got brownie points! You guys are awesome!


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